The construction of the integral for the arc length of a curve based on van Heuraet and Fermat’s works

Abstract

We present the research outcomes of a project in Mathematics Education about the design and implementation of an instrument to learn the integral for the arc length of a function by using differential elements as the strategy for its construction. The research was done via a didactic intervention in a regular Integral Calculus course. The instrument was designed based on historical-epistemological analyses of the works of van Heuraet and Fermat. The main result of this research was that students achieve a more robust conceptualization of the integral for the arc length, supported by its construction with differential elements and its geometric foundation.